Shotgun magazine



Ill

J. E. RUSSELL ET AL SHOTGUN MAGAZINE Filed Feb. 9, 1955 Patented Dec. 31, 1935 SHOTGUN MAGAZINE John E. Russell, Glendale, Douglas B. Ellis, Webster Groves, and Robert E. Gardiner, Normandy, Mo., assignors to Browning Arms Company, St. Louis, Mo., a. corporation of Utah Application February 9, 1935, Serial No. 5,780

Claims.

of means of the class described which may readily be inserted at will without the use of special tools, and may similarly be withdrawn, in order that the magazine may be altered in 15 capacity as circumstances require with a minimum of trouble; the provision of means of the class described which is economical to manufacture and which may therefore be made at a low cost. Other objects will be in part obvious 20 and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter 25 described, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims. In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention, 30 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a shot gun, certain portions being broken away; V

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross section of a magazine showing the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2, but showing 35 the magazine in loadedjcondition; and,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 3, but

showing the magazine independent of the use of the present invention.

Similar reference characters indicate corre- 40 sponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Certain legal restrictions have recently been imposed upon the capacity, in cartridges of the magazines of automatic or auto-loading or re- 45 peating shot guns when they are used for par-' ticular purposes, such as shooting migratory.

It so happens that practically all-of the magazine shot guns in use today, and those being manufactured, are equipped with magazines having a capacity considerably in excess of the 55 limit of two imposed by theaboveregulations.

Permanent change of all of these shot guns would not only be an impossible task, because of their wide distribution in the hands of individual owners, but it would involve so serious a change in the design and balance of the guns as to 5 make it extremely impractical to achieve. Further, even if the permanent reduction of capacity could be made, it would not be desirable, as the capacity of the magazine is not restricted except in named fields and for non-restricted fields the average user prefers to have a maga zine of a four or five shot capacity. Thus, the ideal magazine is one which can only be limited in capacity to two cartridges when the gun is being used in the restricted field, but can be permitted to receive a greater number of car-' tridges when the gun is being used ina nonrestricted field.

The present invention provides just such a device, which is readily "adaptable to existing larger-capacity shot gun magazines, and which can be furnished to the purchaser of a new gun as an auxiliary.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1,. numeral l indicates, in somewhat diagrammatic form, the stock ,of an automatic shot gun. Numeral 2 indicates broadly the firing mechanism. Numeral 3 indicates the barrel. Numeral 4indicates' the magazine, and numeral 5 indicates the resilient entering means by which cartridges are loaded into the magazine. So far as is apparent in Fig. 1, the gunis of a standard construction available on the market.

The repeating and firing mechanisms of the gun are of no consequence to the present invention; hence they will not be described in detail.

The magazine 4 (referring more particularly. to Figs. 2, 3 and 4) comprises a tube 6, which is threaded at one end to receive a cap I, and 40 at the other end, as indicated by numeral 8, to thread into a suitable receiving means 9 (see Fig. 1) on the gun itself. Inside the tube 6 is slidably arranged a cup-shaped retainer cap H), which, at its inner edge, is provided with an outwardly extending flange l I. The tube 6 is provided with a shoulder I2 which cooperates with the flange l I of the cap I!) to prevent it from being ejected from the end 8 of the tube. In assembly, the cap I0 is dropped into theopposite end of tube 6, which receives the cap I.

At the other end of the tube 4 is a press-fitted, cup-shaped retainer cap l3, which faces in the opposite direction from the cap. Ill. I The circular 5.

portion I4 of the cap I3 has a central circular opening I5 therein.

Between the caps I and I3 is supported a compression spring I6. Inasmuch as the cap I3 is pressed in position, it constitutes a relatively fixed abutment for the spring I6 and thus the cap I0 is normally resiliently maintained at the end 8 of the magazine tube, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the procedure of loading the magazine, as indicated in Fig. l, cartridges I! are advanced against the cap II], compressing the spring I6 and causing the cap ID to recede into the magazine tube. Lacking obstruction, in the particular tube illustrated, this compressing may be carried on until four cartridges I! have been inserted in the tube, as shown in Fig. 4.

The description up to the present point has concerned the magazine as it has heretofore been made. The device for reducing the capacity of the magazine, which is novel with the present invention is the plug indicated generally by numeral I8 in Figs. 2 and 3- This plug I8 is preferably made of wood, such as hickory (although it may well be made of metal or other material without altering its functional characteristics) and comprises a cylindrical shank I9 and a circular head 29. The length of the shank I9 is determined by the number of cartridges by which it is desired to reduce the capacity of the magazine. In the present instance, the shank is roughly equivalent to the length of two cartridges, because it is desired to reduce the capacity of the magazine by two cartridges. The head 20 of the plug I8 is desirably of considerable thickness, lengthwise of the. plug, for reasons to be pointed out hereinafter. The diameter of the head 20 is such as will aiford a sliding, albeit rather tight fit in the tube 6.

The assembly of the plug IS with the magazine is a simple matter, readily within the capability of the user of the guni-n the field. For example, all that need be done is to remove the cap I from the tube 6, press the cap I'3 sufficiently far into the tube 6, if it is not already so, and insert the shank I 9 of the plug I8 through the hole I5 in the cap I3. When the cap I is then threaded on to the tube 6, it clamps the plug I8 in position.

The thickness of the head along the length of the plug I8, together with its relatively close fit in the tube 6, provides a ready means for maintaining the shank I9 rigidly and accurately centered in the tube 6, and hence centered in the spring I6. This effect is further enhanced after one or two firings of the gun, the recoils fromwhich drive the cap I3 against the under side of the head 20 clamping it more securely against the inner face of cap I. The shank I 9- is thus placed in such a position that it does not interfere in any manner whatsoever with the action of the spring I6. To interfere with the action of the spring I6 would be distinctly disadvantageous. For example, a device which reduced the capacity of the magazine by forc ing the cap I3 up farther into the tube, and thereby compressing the spring I6 initially beyond its intended compression, would be disadvantageous, in that it would tend, in the course of time, to reduce the resiliency and life of the spring I6. Or, any device which would be likely to rub the spring I6 as it was compressed and expanded, such as a loose-fitting device, would introduce an unnecessary frictional wear on the spring I6, and cause it to cease functioning before the expiration of its normal life. 7

The plug as described has neither of these disadvantages, and in no wise interferes whatsoever with the action of the spring or the magazine.

The manner in which the plug I8 limits the capacity of the magazine tube is shown in Fig. 3, where it is seen that after two cartridges I! have been introduced, the introduction of a third cartridge I'iA is prevented by the engagement of the inner face of the cap II] with the end of shank I9 of the plug I8.

If it is desired to return the magazine to its normal loading capacity, this may be accomplished with great facility merely by removing the cap E from the end of the tube 6, manually withdrawing the plug I8, and replacing the cap I. The magazine will thereupon be capable of receiving four cartridges, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The rigid positioning of the. plug 18 in position in the magazine likewise has the distinctly desirable eifeot of preventing rattling.

It is preferable that the. plug Ill be made of wood, such as hickory, and in one piece, as the lightness of wood is a distinct advantage over the corresponding heaviness of even the lighter metallic alloys.

I8 as light as. possible, so that it will have no tendency to affect the balance of the gun when it is held in firing position.

So far as the adaptability of the present invention is concerned, the magazine tubes of both the automatic. or auto-loading shot guns and the It is desirable to keep the plug repeater type. of shot guns are of identical construction. This is not tobe construed literally, but only to mean that the present invention, in substantially the same shape as that shown, may be adapted with substantially equal facility to automatic, or auto-loading, and repeater type shot guns. V

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. The combination of a shot gun magazine tube having a compression spring therein and a cap fitted into said tube and receiving the thrust of the compression spring, and a second cap threaded on to the end of the tube, with a plug for reducing the capacity of said tube, said plug having a shank extending through a central opening in said first-named cap and inside said compression spring, and being held in position at least in part between the outer face of said firstnamed cap and the inner face of said secondnamed cap. a

2. The combination of a shot gun magazine tube having a compression spring therein and a cap fitted into said tube and receiving the thrust of the compression spring, and a second cap threaded on to the end of the tube, with a plug for reducing the capacity of said tube, said plug having a shank extending through a central opening in said first-named cap, said plug also having ahead which is clamped between the 5' outer face of said first-named cap and the inner face of said second-named cap, thereby supporting said plug in rigid assembly with the magazine tube.

3. The combination of a shot gun magazine tube having a compression spring therein and a cap fitted into said tube and receiving the thrust of the compression spring, and a second cap threaded on to the end of the tube, with a plug for reducing the capacity of said tube, said plug having a shank extending through a central opening in said first-named cap, said plug also having a head which is clamped between the outer face of said first-named cap and the inner face of said second-named cap, thereby supporting said plug in rigid assembly with the magazine tube, said shank having a diameter less than the inner diameter of said compression spring, whereby it does not interfere with theoperation of said compression spring.

4. The combination of a shot gun magazine tube having a compression spring therein and a cap fitted into said tube and receiving the thrust of the compression spring, and a second cap threaded on to the end of the tube, with a plug for reducing the capacity of said tube, said plug having a shank extending through a central opening in said first-named cap, said plug also having a head which is clamped between the outer face of said first-named cap and the inner face of said second-named cap, thereby supporting said plug in rigid assembly with the magazine tube, said shank having a diameter less than the inner diameter of said compression spring, whereby it does not interfere with the operation of said compression spring, said head having a diameter substantially equal to the'inner diameter of the magazine tube, said head being of substantial thickness along the axis of the plug.

5. The combination of a shot gun magazine tube having a compression spring therein and a cap fitted into said tube and receiving the thrust of the compression spring, and a second cap threaded on to the end of the tube, with a plug for reducing the capacity of said tube, said plug having a shank extending through a central opening in said first-named cap, said plug also having a head which is clamped between the outer face of said first-named cap and the inner face of said second-named cap, thereby supporting said plug in rigid assembly with the magazine tube, said shank having a diameter less than the inner diameter of said compression spring, whereby it does not interfere with the operation of said compression spring, said head having a diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the magazine tube, said head being of substantial thickness along the axis of the plug, said plug being made of wood.

JOHN E. RUSSELL. DOUGLAS B. ELLIS. ROBERT E. GARDINER. 

